Language Placement Tests
Placement testing
Please complete a placement exam for each language you have studied, even if you do not plan on continuing to study that language at Colorado College.
Questions regarding testing out of language requirements should go to the Registrar's Office
Online tests are available for French and Spanish and should be completed by the first day of school. Please note that this deadline applies to winter start students as well as students who will begin in the fall.
Directions explaining how to access the tests are below.
If you need special accommodations for an on-campus exam, please indicate that in your request. If you indicated in the survey that you have experience in a language other than one of the ones above, we will contact you.
Online placement testing in French and Spanish
French and Spanish use the BYU WebCAPE exam as their placement test. The WebCAPE is an adaptive test. If you answer a question correctly, you will get a harder question the next time. If you answer a question incorrectly, you will get an easier question. This means that the test can take anywhere from five minutes to 45 minutes.
Be sure you know your Colorado College e-mail address and your student ID number before you access the test at
Emmersion
You will be asked to create an account and password. Once you have completed the exam, it is recommended you print a copy of your results for your record. Please take the WebCAPE test only one time. The first score will be the one for record. If you take the test more than once, your student account will be charged for each subsequent test.
You will then be asked to select the language for your test - French or Spanish. Choose a language, enter your identifying information, and answer the questions in the short questionnaire about your previous language study history. After this, the test will begin. At the end of the Spanish and French tests, you will be shown your score along with your recommended placement.
Placement testing in Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian
Please contact the following faculty to arrange a placement exam
- Arabic - Ammar Naji
- Chinese - Hong Jiang
- German - Chet Lisiecki or Christiane Steckenbiller
- Italian - Amanda Minervini
- Japanese - Francesca Pizarro
- Latin - Richard Buxton (x6059 or Richard.Buxton@ColoradoCollege.edu)
- Russian - Alexei Pavlenko
LRC staff are available to consult with departments about selecting appropriate placement and proficiency instruments, setting cut scores, interpreting test results, and developing program assessment plans. LRC staff also have experience in test development, and can help departments who want to develop their own placement and proficiency instruments.